Before We Began

by Ruvindra Sathsarani

Before we began to judge Ourselves and The People From the colour That meets The Eye At first glance At first rays of The Dawn Was Life and Lie, joined together By appearance?

Before we began to tell Ourselves and our Grandchildren That “white” is pure And “black” is evil That the faces on TV are pretty Because of their fake white skin Was being Asian and swarthy, joined together By disgust ?

Before we began to convince Ourselves and The Nation That dark skin should be peeled off By a sharp pointed knife With the blade removing shame Away from our bodies, so sacred now So pure that women would be confident That men will touch them with No disgust.

Before we began to hear Ourselves and the Friends Forging ties and endless talk Company, friendship and popularity Because fair is pleasent to the Eye. And men would rally on idle streets To ask you to dance, No justification.

Not inside the heart or the head But devouring what pleases the eye A Visual Sexual Satisfaction, so easy to approach With the labels put on by ourselves A Nation’s pride still lingers Underneath the darkness of their skin With all the dark hours spent in rebellion For every life endearing act for freedom From the White. From the Purely Conquered.